Method:Participant Analysis

• Grammar
• Semantics
  • Lexical Semantics
  • Phrase-Level Semantics
  • Verbal Semantics
  • Story Behind the Psalm
• Exegetical Issues
• Discourse
  • Participant Analysis
  • Macrosyntax
  • Speech Act Analysis
  • Emotional Analysis
• Poetics
  • Poetic Structure
  • Poetic Features
• Synthesis
  • Verse-by-Verse Notes
  • Translation and Performance Notes
• Close-but-Clear
• Videos
  • Overview
  • Top 3 Exegetical Issues
  • Top 3 Poetic Features
• Post to wiki
• Style Guide

Overseer: Oobie Weinberg

Introduction

The ultimate question of participant analysis is, What “story” do the participants of this psalm tell? To answer this question the participant reference data of the psalm will be analysed in the following three phases. Each of these phases and its sub-tasks will be explained in detail below.

Overview

Phase 2 - Analysis

2.1. Speaker/Addressee: Track and highlight speaker and addressee participants

2.2. Subject/Predicative: Track and highlight subject and predicative participants

2.3. Participant Sets: Create a highlighted list of participant sets

2.4. Notes: Write notes clarifying ambiguities

2.5. Tracking Table: Fill out the participant tracking table

2.6. Structural Analysis: Based on the data collected, identify and make notes on divisions in the text.

Phase 3 - Synthesis

3.1. Participant Profile Notes: If necessary, write brief informative notes introducing participants

3.2. Summary Visual: Create a visual summary clarifying the most important participant relationships

3.3. Mini-Story: Write a brief mini-story summarising the most important participant relationships

Two Levels of Participant Analysis

It is important to clarify from the beginning that participant analysis happens on two levels. The first level analyses the speaker and addressee of the text. In other words, at any given point in the psalm, who is speaking and to whom are they speaking?

The second level involves the subject/predicative participants. On this level we analyse the participants being referred to in the text itself. The subject participant is indicated by the subject of the verbs/clauses, and the predicative participant is any other participant not functioning as a subject. This second level usually relates to the question: "Who (subject) is doing what to whom (predicative)?".

Definition of a 'Participant'

A participant is an “agent, individual or corporate, who plays a unique relational role in the story of the psalm” (working definition). The main feature here is agency. In the psalms there are many inanimate referents that become participants when ascribed with agency (usually by becoming the subject of a verb). In Ps. 98, for example, the sea roars, the rivers clap their hands, and the mountains sing before YHWH. They are all the agentive subject of verbs, and have a participant relationship with YHWH, and are therefore considered participants. However, in other psalms these same referents are not agentive, and therefore not participants (e.g. Ps. 146 "YHWH...made the sea").

It may help exegetes to refer to the semantic roles analysis in Phrase Level analysis to identify agentive participants.

For further discussion on defining a participant, see the specific issues of YHWH's name (§2.7.1. below) and non-agentive participants (§2.7.2. below).

Phase 1 - Creating a Text Table

Ps. 63 - Text Table (Before Analysis)

Using the participant analysis text table on the Miro template page (Template), create a text table for your own psalm. You can use either the blank template or the example template from Ps. 63. Begin by organising the Hebrew text (using the open-source Hebrew text) according to verses and clauses, with one verse per row-box and one clause per-line within the box. Add the corresponding CBC with each clause aligning with the Hebrew. At this point the text table should look like the adjacent image from Ps. 63's text table.

Phase 2 - Analysis

Guardians will now begin their analysis of all the participant reference data in the psalm. By the end of their analysis the text table and adjacent participant list should look similar to the following example from Ps. 118 (this example can be seen in better quality on the Miro board for Ps. 118.

2.1. Participant Sets List

Ps. 118 - Participant Sets List

To the left of the text table add the Participant Sets list/table. By the end of your analysis this will include a complete list of all participants mentioned throughout the psalms, organised according to participant sets. Participant sets are simply closely-related participants that act like a single participant by virtue of their literary function. For instance, the “man” and the “tree” in Psalm 1 are a participant set: they are closely related in the psalm, and therefore can be considered a single participant for the sake of analysis. By the end of your analysis the participant set table should look like the adjacent example from Ps. 118.

This table is organised according to the following guidelines:

• Each row contains a participant set.
• Each participant should be assigned a highlight-colour.
  • The colour suggestions in the template on the Miro Templates page should be followed as closely as possible, but ultimately colour choice is the guardian's decision.

Synonymous Participants

• Synonymous participants should be given the same highlight-colour but listed in rows.
  • Synonymous participants are different participants who have an identical function or are used interchangeably.
  • For example, in Ps. 118:8-9, the participants "man" and "noblemen" are used interchangeably in a parallelism.
  • Similarly, in Ps. 118 there are both general references to priests (e.g. 118:3) and specific references to priestly gatekeepers (118:19-20). Thus priests and priestly gatekeepers are included as synonymous participants.

Related Participants

• Related (but not synonymous) participants should be given a different shade of the same colour.
  • For example, in Ps. 118 there are both priests and a specific "chorus leader" who leads the opening chorus. This chorus leader was probably a priest or Levite and performs similar, but not identical, functions to the priests in the rest of the psalm.
  • Sometimes the difference between synonymous (same colour) and related participants (different shades of same colour) will be unclear. Guardians should follow their intuitions here.

Differing Appellations (Ps. 118)

• Differing Appellations: Sometimes a given participant will be called by multiple different appellations (names, titles, epithets, etc...) throughout the psalm. Each distinct appellation should be listed in quotation marks (unbolded text, no highlight-colour) beneath the main participant label.
  • For example, in Ps. 118 YHWH is also called "Yah", "My helper", "God", and "My God". Similarly, enemies are referred to as "Those who hate me", "All nations", and "Bees";

Best practice is to fill out this table as you work through the participant tracking tasks (§2.2. and §2.3.), to ensure that every single participant is included. However, guardians may want to, at least partially, add participants and assign them colours before beginning analysis.

2.2. Speaker/Addressee Participants

Guardians will now work through the text and identify (as far as possible) both speaker and addressee for every clause (for ambiguities see §2.4 "Notes on Ambiguities" below). The following formatting guidelines should be followed:

• In the first column on the left identify the speaker in bold text with the highlight colour assigned to that participant.
• Add that participant to the participant set list (see §2.1. above) to the left of the text table.
• In the same way, in the furthest column on the right, identify the addressee.

Speaker/Addressee Shifts within a Verse

• If there are speaker or addressee shifts within a verse, then split the verse into multiple rows (e.g. 2a, 2b), as in the following example:
• When the same speaker or addressee occurs over multiple verses, merge the rows.

30% Opacity

• Background Colours - Format the colours of the table as follows:
  • The background colour of the speaker box and the text boxes should all align. Colour these boxes at 30% opacity from the same colour that highlights the participant.
  • The background of the addressee column is likewise coloured at 30% opacity of the same colour that highlights the participant.

Embedded/Quoted Speech (Ps. 91)

• If there is embedded speech, where one participant quotes the speech of another participant, this should be formatted as follows (compare the adjacent example from Ps. 91):
  • The quoted speaker should be written within "quotation marks" and to the right side of the column.
  • The background shade of quoted speaker box should remain the same as the shade of the main speaker.
  • However, the actual text boxes to the right of the speaker column should be shaded according to the colour of the speaker.
  • As you can see in the adjacent example from Ps. 118:15-16, the Leader is the main speaker, but he is quoting the "Righteous". Therefore the background shade of the speaker column remains yellow, the colour of the leader, but the text boxes are shaded orange, the colour of "the righteous".
  • Embedded speech should correspond to quotation marks in the English CBC text itself.

2.3. Subject/Predicative Participants

Guardians will now work through the text itself in great detail and track (as far as possible) the referent of every single participant mention. Mentions include anything that refers to a participant, including, for example, proper names, titles, nouns, suffixes (of all kinds), pronouns (of all kinds), and the subject of verbs. The following formatting guidelines should be followed:

• Bold and highlight each mention according to the highlight-colour of the participant.
  • Ensure that the same participant is listed with the same highlight colour in the participant sets list to the left of the table.
  • For verbs, highlight the whole verb (not including any suffixes, which will have a different colour) according to the participant-colour of the subject.
• Prepositions: For suffixes on prepositions (e.g. לִי, לָנוּ), only highlight and bold the suffix.
• If formatting variations in highlight-colours becomes a time-consuming problem, contact the overseer (Oobie Weinberg).
• All highlights in the Hebrew text should be highlighted and bolded identically in the corresponding English text.

2.4. Notes on Ambiguities

As guardians work through their psalm, they will often come across ambiguities, both in identifying and in tracking participants. Identification issues relate to determining who are the participants of a given psalm. An example would be if the psalm is spoken in first person, but the speaker is never introduced explicitly. Tracking issues relate to correctly identifying the participant reference of a given mention. Most often these occur when there are unexplained PGN shifts (Person-Gender-Number) in the text. In Ps. 118:19-29, for example, there are constant PGN shifts, without any explicit participant reference, and it is very difficult to track which participant is speaking, and to whom, at any given point.

All ambiguities should be noted, explained, and resolved as best as possible. Create a section of notes to the right of the text-table for each ambiguity. These notes will be included on the wiki alongside the text-table visual, so they should be clear and concise. Format these notes as follows:

Participant Tracking Note (Example - Ps. 118:1-4)

• Title the note with the verse reference and the possible participants, highlighted according to their highlight-colour. Compare the following example from Ps. 118:1-4.
• Below the title include bullet-point explanations explaining the case for each interpretation and your preferred reading.
• Try to be as concise as possible, but these notes can be as long or short as the guardian deems necessary.
• For longer, more complex, or more important cases, an exegetical issue page may need to be created. See the following examples:
  • Identification Issues:
    • The Identity of "Those Who Fear YHWH" in Ps. 118:4
    • The Identity of the Person in Psalm 112
    • The Identity of the Daughter of Tyre in Ps. 45:13
    • The Identity of the Person in Ps. 1:1
  • Tracking Issues:
    • The Subject(s) in Ps. 110:5-7
    • The Grammar and Participants of Ps. 91:2
    • The Referent of God (Elohim) in Ps. 45:7
    • Grammar, Participants, and Meaning of Psalm 14:4
    • Who Are the Subjects in Psalm 7:13–14?

Note Title (Including Hebrew Text)

• Sometimes it will be helpful to include in the title the Hebrew text under discussion. These should be formatted as in the adjacent example from Ps. 118:4:

2.7. Specific Issues in Analysis

As the Layer by Layer project continues, specific re-occurring issues arise and are resolved. Best practice for these issues is documented here.

2.7.1. YHWH's Name - A Participant or Not?

Throughout the Psalter there are many references to YHWH's name. It is not always clear if this should be treated as a participant or not. Our current position is to treat YHWH's name as a participant only when agency is involved (see Definition of a 'Participant' in Introduction above). In other words, is YHWH's name 'doing something' in the psalm or just referenced as an inanimate non-active referent?

To illustrate, compare the following two examples:

Ps. 118:15-16 Ps. 111:9

In Ps. 118, agency is ascribed to YHWH's name, in this case functioning as the grammatical subject of the verbs. YHWH's name then has a participant-like literary function in the psalm. In contrast, in Ps. 111 YHWH's name simply receives a description of being "holy and awesome", without becoming a personified agent of any actions. It is therefore not highlighted as a participant.

2.7.2. Non-Agentive Participants

Ps. 133 Participant Profile Notes

Although the key feature defining a participant is agency (see Definition of a 'Participant' in Introduction above), in certain cases exegetes may choose to include non-agentive referents as participants, especially when certain referents play a significant role in the psalm. In such cases this should be noted in the participant profile notes (see §3.1. below) including a justification for their inclusion. Consider the example of Oil and Dew in Ps. 133:

Phase 3 - Synthesis

3.1. Participant Profile Notes

When users open the participant analysis page for your psalm on the wiki, the first thing they will see is the participant sets list giving an overview of the participants/characters of the psalm. Next to this list it may be necessary to add brief introductions or explanations to the participants of the psalm. Perhaps it is not a participant users will be familiar with. Perhaps some brief historical background explanation is helpful. Notes are not required for every participant. Compare the adjacent image of the wiki page for Ps. 118:

3.2. Summary Visual (Relations Diagram)

Based on the participant relationships identified in the tracking table, create a visual summary that represents the most essential relationships between the main participants of the psalm. The visual summary can be done either using a triangle format, as in the example below from Ps. 111, or using a diamond format, as in the example below from Ps. 21.

Note: If there is no participant relationship in the psalm, omit the connecting arrow altogether.

3.3. Mini-Story

Write a summary of these participant relationships in just one or two sentences. Focus on the key relationships between participants and events affecting those relationships. The mini-story need not follow the psalm’s order of presentation. Use plain English (avoid figurative language that is not itself found in the psalm) and bold and highlight the participants with the appropriate colours. Adjust text-colour to coordinate with participants. Consider the following example from Ps. 21:

Participant Reference

Analyzing Discourse: A Manual of Basic Concepts. Open access book by Robert Dooley and Stephen Levinsohn (SIL: 2000). Especially Chapter 17: "Strategies of Reference."

De Regt, Lénart J., “Participant Reference in Discourse: Biblical Hebrew.” In Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics. Edited by Geoffrey Khan.

Jacobson, Rolf A. Many Are Saying: The Function of Direct Discourse in the Hebrew Psalter. Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 397. New York: T&T Clark, 2004.

Rubric

Dimension	Description
Completeness	The page includes every element required by the creator guidelines. Analysis Tasks: Completed Text Table (§2.1-2) Completed Participant Sets List (§2.3) Completed Notes Section (§2.4) Completed Tracking Table and Structural Analysis (§2.5-6) Synthesis Tasks: Completed Participant Profile Notes (§3.1) Completed Summary Visual (§3.2) Completed Mini-story (§3.3)
Quality of Analysis	In the case of difficulties and alternatives, each view is thoroughly explained and defended with a note. Preferred views are well grounded in evidence.
Engagement with secondary literature	Effort was made to consult commentaries, articles and other reference sources ambiguities in participant reference. Notes are well-researched and citations are properly documented.
Clarity of language	Prose (within notes) is clear and concise. Language is not too technical so as to be inaccessible to Sarah. If a technical concept is unavoidable, it must be clearly explained.
Formatting/Style	All tables and visuals are formatted exactly according to the creator guidelines. All sources are properly cited (Author Date, Page). Notes are free of typos.

Submitting your draft

Copy this text into your forum submission post, entitled Participant Analysis- Psalm 999:

[Participant Analysis Layer Rubric](https://psalms.scriptura.world/w/Participant_Analysis#Rubric)

|Guardian Review|Overseer Review|Final Checks|Description|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|||| **Completeness**
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| The page includes every element required by the creator guidelines.
|||| *Analysis Tasks*
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Completed Text Table (§2.1-2)
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Completed Participant Sets List (§2.3)
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Completed Notes Section (§2.4)
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Completed Tracking Table and Structural Analysis (§2.5-6)
|||| *Synthesis Tasks*
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Completed Participant Profile Notes (§3.1)
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Completed Summary Visual (§3.2)
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Completed Mini-story (§3.3)
|||| **Quality of Analysis**| 
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| In the case of difficulties and alternatives, each view is thoroughly explained and defended with a note.
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Preferred views are well grounded in evidence.
|||| **Engagement with secondary literature**
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Effort was made to consult commentaries, articles and other reference sources ambiguities in participant reference.
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Notes are well-researched and citations are properly documented.
|||| **Clarity of language** 
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Prose (within notes) is clear and concise.
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Language is not too technical so as to be inaccessible to [Sarah](https://psalms.cdbr.org/w/Personas). If a technical concept is unavoidable, it must be clearly explained.
|||| **Formatting/Style** 
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| All tables and visuals are formatted exactly according to the creator guidelines.
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| All sources are properly cited (Author Date, Page).
|[ ]|[ ]|[ ]| Notes are free of typos.